Make Me Shinobi
by Korisen
Summary: Dead-last, loser, demon, monster. These were the things they called him, the things they hated him for. He tried to become what so many people treated him like: nothing. Maybe it was better this way, unnoticed. Just to be there but not. Maybe the hate would go away, if only because they didn't know where to turn it. Wait, what's the loudmouthed Hyuuga-prankster doing? Oh no.
1. Chapter 1

Hello folks. A couple things before we get started.

Thing One: I'm just going to say this up front: this is going to be a story for me to just sit down and write. I don't intend to really plan this out at all and might put in less than what I would want into the quality of this. That being said, I am NOT going to NOT put effort into this. This is just a little warm up for what I have planned to post that I am actually planning out and have major goals for. I'm also not going to lie about some super specific uploading schedule I want to have in place or whatever. I am endeavoring to practice my writing in a creative way because I do enjoy it; I'm just not the most motivated person out there.

Thing Two: I haven't posted under this account name before but I have under a previous account. I think I took the story down and now I can't remember it or my account name – not to mention that this was probably four computers ago, hardware flies when you're having fun, no? Wait, I'm being told that that is neither the right expression nor the right situation for it. Oh well – but onward, says I!

Cat In The Hat: Wait! I've got it! 'Writing in a creative way:' Creative Writing! I'm a genius!

Disclaimer: Wait, that isn't a Doctor Seuss reference, I want my money back! How am I supposed to buy the rights to Naruto now?

Summary: Dead-last, loser, demon, monster. These were the things they called him, the things they hated him for. He tried to become what so many people treated him like: nothing. Maybe it was better this way, unnoticed. Just be there without being there. Maybe the hate would go away, if only because they didn't know where to turn it. Wait, what's the loudmouthed Hyuuga-prankster doing? Oh no.

**Make Me Shinobi**

**Chapter One **

The Konohagakure Ninja Academy is considered by most to be the finest academy among the Hidden Villages, if 'most' meant Konoha. And if someone actually sifted through the ninja that it produces annually and those that ever make it past the rank of chuunin they might just find out that 'finest' seems to have the wrong definition in the dictionary. In fact, were this mysterious person – who is to remain nameless – to dig even deeper into the scandalous world of this academic teaching they might just find that it's been slipping recently. Slipping badly. The cause for this was all because of one Uzumaki Naruto. That's what any sane villager would say, at least.

"_How could the Hokage allow that thing to enter into the ninja academy?"_

"_Doesn't he know the destruction and havoc it wreaked not some 11 years ago?"_

"_He must be going senile!"_

"_I heard it failed, for the second time too! Another year in the academy, ha!"_

"_Just think if it was released-"_

"_-Shut up! We can't talk about that!"_

He tried not to pay attention to the conversation going on not even ten feet away. The tiny swing set in front of the academy was his only bastion in the aftermath of the graduation exam. He had failed again. The parents had come to pick up their children, praise was sung, heads were playfully noogied. Whispers shared. They weren't trying to hide their contempt for him, they never did. He didn't know who they _were_ hiding it from, but it definitely wasn't him. The Hokage certainly didn't care enough to do anything. He was used to it by now; at least that's what he told himself.

_Who cares if I didn't pass, those kids were jerks anyhow! Who needs 'em? I can make better friends this year! Friends my own age, who care!_ The tears rolling down his cheeks disputed every word, and inside he knew it was a foolish thought. No one cared for him. He had no parents, no friends. Half the village didn't acknowledge his existence until he needed to be forcibly removed from a store or from a market stand. The other half acknowledged his presence with harsh words and harsher glares, filled with hatred and contempt. They all told their kids to stay away, to bully him, to ignore him, to never be nice, never look at him. People would actively avoid crossing his shadow and tell their children to never let his touch theirs. He once found it odd, having a tiny understanding of what the Nara clan used as their main tactic. That feeling quickly faded into the nothingness.

He didn't know how long he'd been there, tears long since dry, but he was just in time for the 'Academy Meet-up,' the annual get together for the new genin class. He wouldn't go. Not after what happened last time, he knew better now. It was dark outside, the best time to go home. He wasn't dead-last for lack of trying, and more for lack of teachers. They all ignored him.

_Like normal_. The only instruction he could get was his own, the class lectures or just plain eavesdropping on other one-on-one instruction going on that day. But the night was his friend. This was the one thing people taught him daily, don't be seen. If you're seen, then you will get beaten. He had tried to be the loudmouth once, to attract attention, to not be ignored. He had worn bright orange the first couple weeks of the academy, but quickly learned why that was a bad idea. He wore a deep blue shirt most of the time now, a similar deep blue jacket covering it – never to be left at home, lest he never see it again – and some non-descript black pants. His sandals were the usual blue but worn near their breaking point and slightly tight. Luckily, if his situation could ever be called that, his clothes were just now starting to fit better, having been a couple sizes too big at first. He had nothing else, the monthly stipend barely paid for his apartment and rarely for any decent amount of food. The pants still were too big to wear without a belt and, although he hid it under his still-too-large coat, had to settle for a dirty piece of rope he had managed to find. Unfortunately the weapons pouch strapped to his leg both did little to help hold them up and was more for show than anything. He didn't have a single usable kunai or shuriken and he was thankful that the tests forced you to use the academies weapons else he'd never pass. He lifted his head from the rope of the swing set it was resting on, a red mark left plainly on his forehead.

_Better than these whiskers_. Maybe it was the three marks on each of his cheeks, giving the appearance of whiskers adorning his face that made everyone hate him. It didn't make sense, but his mind had scrambled for an answer for way too many years for him to care about coherency.

"Hinata! Come here this instant! We are already late for the meeting and I will not have your insolence make us any later!" Anger. He knew it well, but it was different. It wasn't laced with the usual venom, although that had to be because it was not currently directed at him. Naruto turned his head slightly to the right, away from the academy doors that had long since swallowed the crowding parents of the new genin. He saw an infuriated man dragging a struggling and unwilling little girl. Both of them had the same dark hair and the same lifeless white eyes without pupils. No. That wasn't right. From what Naruto could see of the ever approaching girl, through the violent jerking of her head, she had deep blue hair, flared up a little at the back with two long strands that framed her face. But it was the eyes, from what he could tell, that were much different from the anger-intoxicated man that must be her father. He couldn't get a good look though, she was squeezing them tight too often and he was still too far away, despite the relatively close proximity, to see properly.

"Let me go! They'll all see my greatness tomorrow anyway, why do we need to go tonight? I'd rather get back at cousin Neji for what he said to me!" The girl, still struggling, had begun to dig her heals into the ground and trying to pull herself from his grip.

"All he did was accuse you of gluing all of his books to the ceiling," a retort was about to fly from the young girls lips, but the father was quicker, "which you readily confessed to! With pride no less!" His anger only grew as the young girl barked out a loud laugh at her own antics.

"But he was always complaining about being glued to them, so I just wanted to help!" The sickly sweet voice went unheard, which prompted a more childish approach of stomping on the ground and, eventually, the father's own rear-end. He seemed unfazed by it though. Perhaps to maintain some semblance of dignity in the midst of such a tantrum.

_So this is one of my classmates? Loud, obnoxious, arrogant, spoiled too. She'll be the first._ He turned his attention to the academy as they passed his spot on the swing set. He tried to ignore them, knowing that he might provoke the father if he so much as looked at the girl the wrong way, but couldn't help but notice the girl had stopped struggling and was now trotting alongside her father, while slowly following him with her head. White-but-not-white eyes met his sparkling blue eyes and a wicked grin slowly appeared on her face as they disappeared through the academy doors.

_Oh no._ He bolted. Tripping as his foot got caught in the swings barely seemed to slow him down as he made for his apartment, sticking to the shadows as much as he could. He didn't like that look the girl gave him. He barely maneuvered out of the way of a trashcan, filled to the brim with glorious muck, as her face pierced his thoughts. Tomorrow was the first day of the year for the new genin-to-be and she was certainly going to be there. It didn't bode well. _What did that man say her name was again?_

**(Konohagakure Ninja Academy: Seven Twenty-Six in the Morning)**

"Hello assholes! Time to wake up and kiss my ass!" Four minutes until class started and Naruto could already tell he was in trouble.

_Did she really have to kick open the door? I almost feel bad for the person who has to fix that._ Almost. The latch looked like it might have flown across the room from the kick, although it was hard to tell _what_ flew off of the door from the third row up. He liked this seat, unnoticed, far away. He could hopefully avoid as much attention as possible from up here. If the class size was roughly the same then there should be plenty of seats left over, meaning that the kids will try to stay away from him and the last row should be relatively free: monkey see, monkey do. And then he saw her. Or, really, he saw her staring at him, that stupid grin on her face again. He hoped she didn't see him quiver underneath his deep blue coat as the chill went up his spine. She was heading right for him.

_Calm down. She's just trying to get in your head. Don't let her know that it's working. I'm sure she wouldn't actually sit next to you._ She was already up the first set of stairs, passing the first row slowly. She didn't even hesitate as she climbed up the second set of three steps onto the second level. He was quite visibly tensed up, breathe hitched in his throat. And then, she stopped, turned the right – her left – traveled two seats in and sat down. Right in front of Naruto.

_No big, no big. She's just sitting in front of me, she obviously doesn't want to sit near me, she just didn't realize-_

"Hey."

_Oh crud, when did she get there? No, no, no, no!_ She was standing on her chair facing him. Her arms folded over his section of the long table. Her head was tilted ever so slightly to her right. He couldn't help but notice her eyes, the pale lavender tint that had just eluded him last night. He never questioned his sight, how he had seen them in the night from perhaps 20 feet away and could make out the shade of her hair, very deep blue as it were, in the darkness with only a small lamp on the academy front doors. He didn't know he saw any different from anyone else. Maybe that was why those lavender eyes were so breath-taking up close. He would even go so far as to say they were gorgeous, although never aloud. He hardly ever talked in general, much less about some girl's looks. He didn't want to imagine the kind of trouble he'd get into for that. But it was still a fact that those pupil-less eyes were there, staring into his. He felt as though he were gorging himself after years of malnourishment, hardly able to take in the sizable meal in front of him. Not that he really knew what a 'sizeable meal' really looked like. Why were his fists clenched on the table again? Then he saw that wicked grin and remembered.

"You're kind of cute, you know?" Her voice was low, and he knew that nobody was looking; no one ever did if they could help it.

_Other than her, but…but she must be planning something. Wait…cute?_ He didn't get more than a moment to ponder what she had said before she was propped up on her elbows, her face quickly closing the distance between them and giving him a peck on the tip of his nose. What may have felt like infinity was really only a brief few seconds, and then the pain came. There was an audible smack and the blue-haired girl sat back in her seat indignantly from where she had just slapped him across the face.

"I'm not that kind of girl, Blondie!" She shouted, much louder than necessary for everyone to hear her. A few of the boys in the first row had turned around and every single girl in the classroom, aside from pretty Miss Lavender, was now glaring at him angrily, their pervert detectors now on high alert. The boys that had turned around, including one that looked like he had dog on his head, just started laughing loudly at the situation, or at Naruto, he wasn't sure which.

_What...what just happened?_ His hand couldn't decide whether to cover his cheek or his nose and just settled for grasping at air halfway between the two. Noting all of the heated glares coming his way, he tried to sink as low into the chair as possible. This girl had just ruined his chances of being invisible. Maybe that was what she had wanted, or maybe she just didn't realize that everyone else hated him and was a little slow. Either way it didn't matter.

_If only I knew how bad this would be, maybe I would've just stayed in bed._ The classroom door opening tore the few remaining glares away from him as the teacher entered the room, a newly recruited one it seemed. His brown hair was tied in a high-ponytail, the familiar leaf headband tied tight around his forehead. His most striking feature, however, was the horizontal scar across his nose. He seemed confused at the lack of resistance from the door as well as the fact that it didn't shut at all, but shrugged it off, opting to set his book and folder on the teacher's desk at the lowest part of the room. He smiled wide.

"Welcome students," a short pause, arms held wide open, "to the Konoha Ninja Academy! Now I know that I've all met with you and your parents face to face, but let's start by introducing yourselves to the class as some of you haven't met everyone yet. Plus it'll help me to remember all of your names!" His smile never faltered as he looked around the classroom, finally settling his gaze on a girl on the end of the front row. "How about you start us off, young lady? How about a name, some likes, dislikes, and maybe your dream for the future. Go on ahead!"

Naruto tuned it out as soon as it started. He would be left out again and he enjoyed that. That was if that girl didn't ruin that too, he was hoping to still skirt by with some trace amounts of animosity. He could tell none of the students outright recognized him as 'that fucking demon child.' That insult was courtesy of a middle-aged women, who he had the displeasure of meeting on his early morning walk to class. He could still feel the thwack of the broom on his back a little. He hoped that he could keep that a secret from the class as long as possible. The girl in front of him suddenly was standing with one foot on her chair and another commandingly on top of her desk, an arm pointing skyward, proudly proclaiming that her dream was to send her cousin back to whatever hell he must have come from. She was rather enthused with that prospect, although Naruto assumed, for the minimal amount of attention he paid it, that she was pulling the classes' collective leg. The teacher just smiled and nodded at her, which put her off-balance for a second, before she calmly sat back down. No one knew of the vengeance she was planning against the teacher.

"And last but not least." Naruto had zoned out a bit again, staring at the desk in front of him, his hands tucked together between his legs.

_If I could just figure out how to stay away from that one, I'm sure that this won't be as ba-_

"Hey Blondie, he means you!" A hushed whisper from in front of him broke him out of his trance. He looked at the girl – _What was her name?_ – and then at the teacher, his smile still placed conveniently on his face.

"Finally came back to us, huh? Why don't you introduce yourself?" Naruto didn't want to believe that kindness in his voice, he couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. This guy was just like all the others, except, he wasn't. He actually noticed Naruto, or at least he called out on him. Naruto was unsure where to start, unsure what to say. He didn't have time to practice, or he did but he didn't think he'd be called on.

_This guy must want all the students to know so they know who to pick on. Great._ "My-my n-name is Uzumaki N-Naruto." Every single student he could see, which was most of them, flinched visibly upon hearing the name. Well, except for that girl in front of him, she gave him that stupid grin and a thumbs-up, which was pointing down since she was tipping her chair back and leaning as far could without falling. _What are you at?_

"Go on." This teacher could have just been stupid to not see that just about everyone stiffened up from hearing just his name. Then again Naruto could be a girl.

"I-I like ramen. I don't r-really dislike m-much." _**HE LIED.**_ Naruto was taken aback by the sudden intense thought that found its way into his head. Images began filtering through his head, every face a villager he could remember from some kind of spat that they had had before. _Of course I dislike them,_ he thought,_ but I can't just say that. I'll get killed._ He wasn't sure why he was having this conversation with himself, but he had no one better to talk to. He didn't count that girl or what she did, as he, at that point, had literally not said a single word to her, despite the dozen or so she'd said to him.

He honestly hated speaking. Years of having no one to help and the either hurtful words or complete ignorance of him by the villagers made his speech a stuttering mess and he had nothing that he ever really want to say. "Anything else? What about your dream?" That stupid smile was still on his face, it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

"I-I don't really have one."

"Liar." Why did she care so much about making him suffer? Couldn't she just wait until break to stuff his face in the dirt? It would be a lot less painful for him and probably less troubling for her.

_She must have something she's trying to do. Maybe provoke me? So she can beat me up with the righteous authority that she craves? It isn't as if beating me up is punishable. I think there are at least three different food stands that offer a discount if someone does it in front of them._ He hated this place. If he didn't know that those stupid masked men would stop it before he got seriously injured he would try to piss off as many people as much as possible just so maybe he could be unconscious for a few peaceful hours. _That's no way to think. __**THEN WHAT IS?**_ This time Naruto was visibly shaken from the sudden voice in his head that definitely wasn't his own.

"She's right! You must have some kind of dream."

_Are they still going on about this?_ He supposed it had only been a few seconds but he had been spacing out again.

"Yeah! I bet you want to be Hokage, right? With all that power over the village!"

_Is she trying to get me killed? __**PROBABLY.**_ He couldn't dispute that that time it could have been his voice; he had been thinking the same thought. "N-no. I don't really-really w-want power. I-I just…" _Want to turn invisible…_ "…n-nothing. I d-don't real-really h-have a dr-dream." _**YOU ARE PATHETIC.**_ Naruto wasn't sure what to feel at that moment. He just wanted to go away. _I know…_ _I know._

The girl, when Naruto took the courage to actually look up from his desk to take a quick peak, was looking at him with a bewildered face. The teacher had apparently accepted his nervous answer and had taken two steps backward toward the desk. "For those of you who may have forgotten me, or just plain didn't come to visit last night," his eyes landed on Naruto but his smile never faded, "my name is Iruka, and I will be your academy instructor." Naruto was starting to get a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and this creepy girl wasn't helping either. She had started rubbing her hands together, giggling madly to herself. If that wasn't bad enough – Naruto did, in fact, think it was quite bad enough – she had turned around and blown him a kiss when the teacher was scribbling something on the board. He tried to ignore her. He really didn't want to get slapped again.

_Maybe this girl is just nuts and doesn't realize that I'm someone to be hated. I don't know if that's better or not…I can at least handle the hate, but I really don't know what to do if this girl is crazy._

**End**

Korisen


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again, dear readers.

I can't say thanks enough to everyone who read it and who reviewed it. I was giddy knowing that after less than one day I had nine or so reviews. That being said, feel free to shoot me any kind of criticism on my story or my writing style. I am as tough as the nails I eat for breakfast.

I'll try to keep these notes at the top short so I don't bore you or make you just skip them. If there is anything important it'll be up here, regardless of how much space it needs (proportional to its urgency of course).

I also updated the first chapter if anyone who has already read it cares. No plot changes or anything just a few rough patches smoothed out.

Disclaimer: Naruto gehört mir nicht. Glaub es.

**Make Me Shinobi**

**Chapter Two**

**(Konohagakure Ninja Academy: Twelve Noon, Lunch Break)**

_Just ignore her, Naruto. Just ignore her. Seriously, don't acknowledge it at all. It's no problem. Just…ignore…it._ The class hadn't been dismissed for lunch for even two minutes before she had started…whatever this was. The rest of the class, teacher included, had all finished leaving by the time she had grabbed his cheeks between thumb and index finger. She had only recently begun flapping them against his teeth and gums creating a wet slapping noise with each full cycle. She was standing on her chair again, facing him, seemingly spellbound by his soon-to-be bruised cheeks. He liked to think he had an annoyed expression on his face but it rarely matched what he was feeling inside, so that was a long shot. He fumbled some words out but his stutter and the sudden restriction of stretched lips created more of a blabbering sound. Apparently understanding, the girl let go and placed both hands on his table. With grace and ease that he was slightly jealous of she pushed off the chair and swung her body up and over the table. Her form landed behind the unoccupied seat to his right before snatching the chair and seating herself. It was impressive, the speed and agility and utter lack of caring that she performed with. He'd still only give her an eight out of ten though, mostly because he didn't really like her all that much. She was a hassle already and she had single handedly turned the entire class against him.

_Maybe that's not fair. She didn't make the teacher call on him. But she did make me look like a pervert._ "D-don't you kn-know who I a-am?" She was sitting facing him, one elbow on the table propping up her head. He legs were crossed in a lady-like manner, an ironic pose for her. She was anything but lady-like.

"Duh. I've seen you around the village enough. We also just introduced ourselves not ten minutes ago. You probably don't know me though. What with you being all Mister Pouty and spacing off up here. Hyuuga Hinata, Prankster Extraordinaire!" She was enthralled with herself, it seemed. He hadn't really looked before, but she didn't really look like a Hyuuga. Aside from her obviously Hyuuga eyes, which were still quite lovely to stare into – a mistake he had made twice this day already –, she was really plain looking. Her coat, a plain but slightly gray-white affair, looked relatively thick for her to be wearing it in the early summer heat. The folded back hood seemed to have a white fringe lacing the edge but stopped just before reaching the zipper and then tracing along the bottom edge of the coat. There were no symbols, no clan markings, no scuffs, scrapes or smudges to be seen on the coat. Her pants were pretty unmemorable. Deep blue with the weapon holster attached to her right leg, similar to his, although they actually seemed to fit.

_How can she go around in that coat?_ His cursory glance didn't go unnoticed, however. She hopped to her feet, the chair sliding backwards clashing with the one next to it. Using the back of her hands, she quickly ran them down her sides, making sure to flick them upwards as they left the coat.

"Like what you see, eh? Can't say I blame you. I also tend to linger at my mirror for a few minutes longer than necessary." He didn't give it a thought, or at least not one that mattered.

"I-if you know w-who I-I am, th-then why are you t-talking to-to me? I-I'm not the-the most pl-pleasant p-p-"

"The villagers can suck it, for all I care. You seem pretty decent to me. You can take a hit at least." She looked like she regretted saying that as soon as it left her lips. Naruto just looked back at the table, a sad look overwhelming his face. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't trust her. Maybe once upon a time when he was still naïve could he have tried trusting her, but he couldn't afford to anymore. He turned toward her, ready to tell her that it was pointless trying to be his friend. "Hey! I can tell by that look that you think I'm lying to hurt you or something. Stop it."

_Look? What look? She doesn't know what she's talking about._ He didn't feel like he looked at her any different. He decided a staring match with the table was in order.

"And I can tell by that face that you think I have no idea what I'm talking about." Naruto allowed a bit of surprise to filter into his expression but didn't dare look at her again.

_What are you, psychic? Crazy girl._

"Hey! I may be crazy, but I am not a girl. I am a lady, and you best remember that." Naruto couldn't help but jerk his head toward her, something akin to fear bubbling up inside.

_If she's actually psychic, what am I going to do? I can't just stop thinking! She's going to know I think she's crazy. Well, okay, she already knows you think that. Get a grip! But what if she's reading this right now? I'm no one's book! I-_

"Jeez, Naruto-kun, calm down. I'm not really psychic! You're just really easy to read."

_**NARUTO-KUN…**_

Okay, he officially had voices in his head. He was starting to freak out. Struggling to keep himself from falling over in the fetal position, a very real possibility at this point, he managed to grab onto a question strong enough to keep him afloat in this turbulence.

"W-why? W-w-why do y-you c-care?" She looked amused at his question and he thought he could see his own panicked self reflecting off her eyes. Of course they gave off no real reflection, unlike his eyes. The color just didn't want to let go of the light it gathered in its gaze, or anything else for that matter. Naruto quickly looked away again.

_Not again! Just…don't look at them._

"Because you're lonely." Naruto didn't even hesitate to look back into those eyes. Searching for the truth behind her sentence he found nothing but confidence in them. "This whole village barely recognizes you as existing, let alone as human. Maybe you don't want to hear this, but I've been watching you for some time," she grabbed his wrist faster than he had the chance to bolt, easily keeping him from getting farther than an arm's length away. She was still standing, never looking away, "Okay., you definitely didn't want to hear that, but I have been. I've seen the way they treat you and I can tell how lonely you are. I can see what they're doing to you. It's not right and it makes me incredibly angry. So I've decided I'm going to change all that."

_What is she, a bear? I can't get my wrist out!_ His struggling was shrugged off by the girl, obviously negligible. Was he really that weak? He didn't even budge her by throwing his full weight away from her.

"I've decided to be your friend. Whether you want it or not, you got that?" Naruto was getting angry, mostly at himself for being so weak but still he felt anger toward the girl, this Hinata character. She could see it in him as his jaw clenched and he struggled to free himself. He knew that she wasn't even trying.

"I don't need a friend! I was doing fine until you showed up!" He yelled, surprising himself a little. He was getting angrier, more and more of it was being directed at her. Why was she doing this to him?

"Failing twice is 'doing fine?' You can't even budge me, shorty, and I'm not that big." She pulled him roughly toward her and he was suddenly embraced in a hug. It wasn't nice at all, not like he imagined it might be. She was actively trying to crush him it seemed. And as much as he hated the jab at his height, he realized that she was at least half of a head taller than him. "You can train and root around for food all you want by yourself, yeah, I've watched you quite a lot recently, but look what good it's done you."

"Why are you b-bullying me i-if y-you want to be my-my friend?" His anger was slipping, tears threatening to spill forth at any moment. And then, burying his face into her shoulder, the dam broke. "Y-you-ou're j-ju-just l-like-ke ev-v-ver-one e-e-else!" Her arms relaxed and the hug softened, his soft crying somewhat smothered by her coat.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with, but I hate to see a little kid all alone. I can't say I know what it feels like, but I want to help. Really, I do…man, I didn't think you'd start to cry." She wasn't really trying to do anything other than hold him and Naruto hoped it was because she just didn't know what to do. He certainly had never cried into anyone's, well, anything.

_I'm so…__**PATHETIC.**_

It was a full five minutes before Naruto managed to get a hold of himself enough to stop crying. Hinata had shoved a handkerchief into his hand and made him sit back down to wipe away everything that had oozed out of his face. When he was done, she, somewhat reluctantly, took it back and used it to wipe off what was on her shoulder. With a quick toss it had landed across the room into the second row. She cursed softly, having missed her intended target.

"Eh…," she said softly, "the wind took it." He smiled a little at that, glancing back down at the desk for a brief second. He still couldn't look into her eyes for very long without losing himself in them. He'd settle for her nose. "So, we friends now? Or do I need to apologize for slapping you earlier? I'm not going to. You had it coming. You pervert. Kissing me like that. Getting fresh with me." She had that grin on her face again, but it didn't seem quite so intimidating anymore, playful maybe but he wasn't sure.

"For-for a-a p-prankst-ster ex-extraordinaire, it-it w-was a p-pretty l-l-lame." Her grin widened at the jab.

"I thought I got rid of that stu-stu-stu-stutter of yours, Blondie! Guess that only happens when you get mad. Too bad we're friends now, so we can't ever get mad at each other." She jabbed him a few times in the shoulder with her elbow, trying to get a reaction out of him. He just stared at her nose some more. He tried to look up it a bit, just out of curiosity – _Do girls even get boogers?_ – but failed when she grabbed her earlier chair. "Glad to see you recover quickly. Anyway, that stuff earlier was just my charm! I know, I'm a keeper, right?" Naruto snorted before suddenly growing really red. He looked back down at the fascinating work of art that was his desk. Someone had carved some rather inappropriate things on it in previous years. "Yeah, you look away. But seriously, if I was pranking you, you'd know about it. That teacher is going to find himself in a world of trouble tomorrow." She cackled that last sentence, fingers jittering as she brought her hands close together.

"W-why do y-you act l-like th-this?" He seemed to have calmed down to his normal level of nervousness, except for the rogue sniffle here or there, but he didn't like the look in his new 'friends' eyes.

"If I told you that then you'd miss the wonderful opportunity of finding out for yourself, Naru-kun! Yeah, that's good. That's your new nickname! And mine'll be Hina-hime!" She was rubbing her chin with her hand, trying to look clever. He didn't know what clever really looked like, but he figured she was doing at least a decent job.

"W-why can't I-I j-just call you H-Hinata?" He yelped as she grabbed onto his nose and started shaking it and by extension his head from side to side. "Ow ow ow!" He whined nasally.

"What're you going to call me Naru-kun? Huh?"

"Hina-hime! Hina-hime!" He covered his nose as soon as she let go, afraid it might have been broken. "B-bully!" He cried in pain. She just giggled, which seemed very uncharacteristic to Naruto, and latched onto his right arm. She pressed herself up against him, rubbing her face against his shoulder.

"I'm no bully, Blondie! I'm just a girl who knows what she wants." The sweet tone to her voice betrayed the message.

_I don't get this girl._

**(Konohagakure Ninja Academy: Twelve thirty-three, Lunch Break)**

"Eat," Hinata said in a most commanding tone, her voice hinting slightly at the irritation building up inside of her, "or I will feed you this food with my fist!" Naruto pushed the open container back toward Hinata for the sixth time.

"N-no, i-it's yours," he replied meekly. She was a frightening individual to say the least. He really didn't know what to make of the situation. He was beginning to accept the fact that she wanted to be friends, in whatever twisted or cruel way she thought to accomplish this, but he still had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that just didn't want to go away. Those eyes, however, didn't lie. She really did want to be friends but they also frightened him in more ways than one. The obvious way was when she got that evil grin on her face, those eyes lit up with all kinds of trouble. Was she planning something? He didn't want to believe so, but old habits die hard. The less obvious way was the incredibly good chance that if he looked into them too long he'd be lost forever. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy it, it was part of the reason it frightened him, but he knew that she would sooner or later use it against him. Whether or not it would be playful and friendly was hard to tell at the moment.

"Well then," she reached into the food with her bare hand, grabbing a fistful of rice, "have it your way!" She lunged with a ferocious snarl. Her left arm hooked around his neck before he could jump out of the chair, a fistful of food being shoved into his face. She forcibly toppled them off his chair and onto the floor. The landing caused Naruto to gasp slightly which was the exact wrong thing to do. The food held to his mouth by Hinata finally had no resistance and gladly filled his maw to the brim. She held her hand over his mouth until she felt him chew and swallow it. He hadn't chewed quite enough, however, and it hurt all the down. "There! Now," she let go of his face and lightly dusted off the remaining food from his face, "was that so bad?"

When they had toppled over Hinata had twisted Naruto to the bottom and had wrapped her legs around his left, propping herself up with her left arm as she held his mouth closed. Now that they had calmed down, Naruto felt rather embarrassed about their current entanglement.

_Aren't boys and girls not supposed to do this kind of stuff?_ There had been many times in past years where the current, more often than not a boy, rookie-of-the-year's fangirls, there were always fangirls, would talk amongst themselves and fantasize about holding hands or going on a date with them. What Naruto and Hinata were doing must have been the next step up, holding legs.

_How would they walk around though? This also isn't very comfortable, so maybe they do it on the bed or something._ Naruto, for one, couldn't figure out why anyone would want to lay in a bed with someone else for very long. It seemed really boring unless they were sleeping. In a position like that, though, he didn't think anyone could sleep. He also didn't understand why they would be licking each other's faces like that.

"Guh," exclaimed Naruto, trying to wipe off the slobber onto his sleeve with his one free arm, "H-Hinata!" She had, during his little trip, pinned his right hand to the floor but was now glaring at him with a level of intensity that nearly made him pee all over himself. She probably didn't realize it would get on her too. "I-I-I-I, um, I m-mean H-Hina-h-hime!" As quickly as it had appeared the glare vanished from her face, replaced by a soft smile.

"You're so cute when I'm manipulating you, Naru-kun!" Naruto couldn't help but turn beet red and looking away from the girl on top of him.

"Qu-quit c-c-calling me c-cute."

"Have you finally accepted the fact that I'm not going to leave you alone?" Reluctantly, Naruto nodded. He could still hope this girl had a sudden change of heart and never wanted to speak to him again, right? And as much as he wanted a friend, he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to handle this kind of punishment every day. But was this worse than what he already had? He hated the people here, feared the active duty shinobi, and feared the shinobi he knew he couldn't identify even more. They weren't kind to him and he couldn't defend himself, if his struggles today proved anything. He thought about it, and even if she had done so in one of the worst possible ways, she had said she wanted to be his friend. That in itself was a miracle for Naruto and he didn't want to let it go even if he hadn't the courage to grasp for it in the first place. But this girl was from one of the most respected clans of Konoha, and Naruto knew that she would probably be in a huge amount of trouble associating with him. He'd need to ditch her after class when they parted. He didn't want her to get in trouble or hurt because of him. He could just hide out in his apartment and not come back. He could wait another year to try to graduate.

_What could she be thinking about right now?_ They hadn't moved in a couple minutes and Hinata was currently making a series of funny faces at Naruto, although she seemed to be spacing out as she made them. Perhaps, he hoped with fiery intensity, they weren't meant to be directed at hi-

"So Naru-kun, what is your absolute favorite thing about me? Be honest now, although I know it may be hard to choose only one from such an extensive selection." Hope was dead.

"E-extens-sive?" It wasn't often that Naruto felt stupid. Frightened, yes; anxious, yes; pain, yes; but hardly ever stupid. He prided himself on his knowledge, regardless of the fact that he was constantly neglected school-wise. Each test the teacher had skipped over Naruto when giving them out. Naïvely, Naruto had tried asking for it the first few times it ever happened. After that he got clever and began sneaking the test papers whenever possible, which wasn't often. He never tried to turn them in; he knew that they would catch wind off it even if he used someone else's name. Not to mention that they wouldn't ever hand it back to him. He just had to work through it himself and check what he could in class. If he got it wrong he usually couldn't get the right answer in time before they moved on, although every once in a while a student didn't get it long enough for Naruto to record most things. It was also painfully easy to steal some of the smarter kid's papers after class. Hell, sometimes they just threw the test they got back away, although the kids who did that usually weren't the best of students.

"Eh," she hesitated, debating something internally. She directed her eyes into his staring ones and spoke with a slight hesitation, "it means big or large. Don't worry about it though. Wait, you aren't trying to avoid the question are you?"

"Wh-what? No!"

"Answer me, Cutie!"

"I-I-I-I-I d-do-don't kn-know!" Naruto was frightened again, although she wasn't given off a frightening aura. The intensity of the request – _Yeah, request, right._ – startled him, and from her very dominate position it was hard not to try to scrunch into a ball and hide away. Of course, he was unable to do just that due to her holding him down and staring at him with though eyes. He would need to find a way to get rid of this ridiculous obsession he seemed to have gained within the last couple of hours. Those beautiful orbs just grabbed his eyes and didn't let go, but when he looked into them he felt calm. A strange calm that he had not until just recently felt before was emitted, transmitted from her seemingly endless supply directly into his being. "U-um…yo-your eyes-s?"

**(Konohagakure Ninja Academy: One o`clock, Class Resumes)**

Naruto wasn't the best of students, how could he be? He wasn't even considered a student by most, although this teacher seemed to be rather stupid for not knowing who Naruto was.

_He must be planning something. He's got to be. There is no way he cares, absolutely no way. Unless he's stupid. Is he stupid? No. He's not stupid, he's clever. He's just thinking about ways to ruin me. Maybe he'll invite me for target practice and skewer me alive. No, not in front of the other kids, unless he gets off on that or something. Umino Iruka. Sounds like someone who would have it out for me. Then again everyone's name sounds like that. I suppose Hinata does…n't…did I really just think that?_ He was furiously shaking his head, trying to get those thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to think about her as someone he could trust or someone he could be friends with. Not that he didn't want to in the sense that HE REALLY WANTED TO, but in the sense that he needed to keep her safe. Maybe he was just making excuses and pitying himself, but she was in danger associating with him. He wasn't someone anyone was supposed to like or be around in any kind of non-threatening way, so why should she be someone so special. Really, when he thought about it, she was being selfish by not considering herself before him, by thinking about what she wants rather than his needs. It was rather easy to convince himself of this, whether it was true or not, and once he did so it became even easier for him to distance himself from her. At least mentally, anyway. The girl in question was currently making what most would call a lovey-dovey face at him from the seat next to him. She hadn't moved from her earlier spot and was resting her face in her hands with a small – dare he say cute? – smile on her pale face. Naruto was trying not to look at her, in case one of them did something that he would regret later. He wasn't sure if her reaction to his comment was genuine or not, after all she was the master of bi-polar mood reversals, but best not to provoke anything more and just get on with the day.

Naruto stiffened as she let out a soft sigh of satisfaction or pleasure – Naruto wasn't entirely sure at this point –, and he slowly loosened back up as she returned to her normal breathing pattern. He wasn't sure what was bothering him about her or why his every move over the past few minutes seemed long and drawn out. He was certain of what needed to be done. He also really didn't want to do it. He really didn't want her to find out either, because then everything would end badly for what he presumed would be forever. He did like the attention though…

…_wait. How am I going to get away from her? She says she's been watching me and she doesn't seem to be lying about that considering…ugh… Why can't anything be easy? This desk feels awful. Don't get distracted! Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think. Think._

"What'ch'ya thinkin' 'bout?" Hinata whispered awkwardly closely in his ear. When and why had she gotten so close to him? He could feel her breath on his ear, and he had to admit she would definitely win the award for creepiest friend ever. She had scooted to the edge of her seat and it was tipped onto its front two legs threatening to tumble the small girl – she was bigger than him – forward into him. Her left arm encircled him and rested on his seat-back while the other, once again, propped up her tilting head.

"Thinking." It came out as more of a grunt, which while being rather uncharacteristic also didn't help his situation.

"Sounds neat! Mind if I join?"

"W-what?" Naruto half-expected – read fully-expected – her to head-butt him right then and there, but was pleasantly surprised when she didn't. He was still expecting it later on though. Better safe than sorry, right?

"Well, as your friend we should be doing stuff together, and since neither of us is interested in listening to the lecture-engine down there-"

"I was listening-"

"-I suggest we think together. Mostly because this seems to be your favorite past-time. You need conversational skills, buddy, but we'll work on that later."

"H-how do-do y-you th-think t-t-toge-gether?" _Okay, so that grin is kind of cute…shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Just think! Think about trees! Those are cool! Blowing in the wind, leaves rustling. Leaving. Leaving Hinata after class. Oh right. How do I do that again? Did I ever think of a way? I think I did…come on, what was it? Think. Think. Think. Think. How to ditch Hinata. How to ditch Hinata. How to ditch Hinata…how to ditch Hinata? How do I ditch Hinata? How do I ditch-_

"So what are you thinking about now, Naru-kun?"

"Hinata." Naruto could feel the word slip from his lips and fly into the air, and his feeble attempts at reaching them and pulling them back into his maw met with strange looks from the pale-eyed princess and had a cup of tea before departing with kind words and a sudden exasperation with the constant "friend." Either way, his practically flailing body probably didn't set up the most graceful appearance, especially now that he didn't just look like he slipped out a word before thinking. Hinata should never giggle that evil giggle again. She shouldn't have done that in the first place but Naruto could only grit his teeth and prepare his walls for siege.

"Aw," she giggled again, clearly disobeying Naruto's unspoken want, "I was thinking about you too, Naru-kun!"

"Quiet up there, please!" Once again, Iruka just had to make Naruto the focal point of the room. Every single eye, aside from his favorite pair, were now staring directly at him, more than half had scorn flinging freely from them. It didn't help that the princess had ducked under the table quicker than Naruto could blink and left him alone to bear the blame. He really hoped that she didn't realize how hateful everyone else looked. It was a few seconds when the stares faded away and he heard the table speak.

"Don't worry. I'll make them all pay for the way they look at you!" It was enough a whisper to keep others from hearing, but the malice that broke from it would startle even the finest of shinobi into peeing themselves. Truly it was an evil desk that spoke these words. He stared at the spot where one girl had been sitting previously and hoped that the hard-wood surface hadn't actually spoke – he wasn't sure he could handle that today – and deep down he knew it hadn't. Maybe. He could never be certain. "After all, I am the best at pretty much everything," Hinata's blue-laden head popped out from underneath the wooden casket smiling, "especially revenge."

_Please no._ "I-I d-don't thi-think rev-venge is the-the best op-ption…"

"I don't pay you to think, I pay you to look cute. Although," she paused, giving him a quick once over with her ever seeing eyes, and then meeting his longing gaze, "maybe I should pay you more for your over-abundance of it. Also I can just pluck my eyes out if that'll make it easier for you to molest them with yours." Naruto turned away embarrassed again, somehow he had been staring again. He really needed to stop that.

"S-sorry." Naruto heard felt the scoff before he heard it and turned his head around to investigate. He touched noses with the pale-faced girl and locked eyes with her almost immediately. He tried not to scream. He didn't succeed.

**(Konohagakure Fourth Hokage Street: Four-fifty eight)**

"I said I was sorry! What more do you want from me? Just going to keep walking away from me, huh? I see how it is. Everything I've done for you and you repay me like this? Come on! Please! I'll beg! I can whimper for you, moan? What do you want me to say? Just – get back here!" Hinata didn't give up on her friends it seemed, whether they wanted her too or not. Naruto couldn't say he was too terribly angry with her; she seemed to have been acting just as she normally would but he could only take so much embarrassment and scorn for one day, and he had enough for weeks. He wanted to be done with her. He didn't want a friend enough to actually bare this burden, and he doubted that it would be worth it in the end. So what if she seemed to care, no one else did and what could one person do for him when there were thousands that could and would – gladly – dismantle any progress he made.

He was glad he made it out of the classroom as quickly as he did and was certain this weirdo would have kept him from going if his sudden outburst hadn't taken her by surprise. Hours had past just wandering the streets of Konoha trying to lose this girl, who had quite soon after his flight found him with what seemed like ease. He gave up running about an hour ago and was currently trying to heatedly walk away from her. He tried not to show his frustrations to her. He just wanted things to go back to how they used to be. He wanted things to be normal, because he didn't like change. Change was bad and no change was bad. Everything was just bad, but there was no reason she needed to make any of that worse.

"Just go have your good life with your good pranks and your good friends! Just leave me out of this…whatever this is! I don't want to change! I don't want people to like me! I want people to not see me, and hanging out with you is the last thing that will ever accomplish that! I was fine on my own! Go be happy on your own! I don't need it!" He didn't look back as he yelled the words that made it hard to see as his own supply of rain fell. Her footsteps stopped and his sped up. Her voice was more than just a scheduled distant memory now, it was distant.

**End**

Korisen


	3. Chapter 3

I haven't forgotten all of you! I promise! In fact, I Hinata-Brand PromiseTM it!  
Short Version: Life's Hectic!  
Long Version: Life's Hectic!  
Those last two statements seem odd to me…anyone know why?

NEW HINATA-BRAND PROMISES!  
"Just sticky enough!" – Carl Sagan

All criticism welcome! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I really need to put this here? Who thinks I own this?

**Make Me Shinobi**

**Chapter Three**

_That ungrateful…piece of…son of a…oh no…what have I done?_ Her hand shot out to where the smothered flame of a boy once stood, but it was too late. How long had she stood there dumbfounded? He was long gone by the time her voice found an escape, and it was no more effective than her hand had been moments ago. "Naruto! Please!" Her voice becoming little more than a pleading whisper in the wind. People hustled and bustled around her, completely ignoring the little girl in the middle of the street. She felt as though her world was burning down in front of her, but everything else just kept moving. The cobblestone road beneath her failed to cower under her gaze, and the people around her didn't seem to notice her palpable rage that she felt drip from her eyes. She didn't avert her eyes from the ground, and the sun beat down on her pale neck. Her plain white coat, devoid of the usual clan and village symbols that a Hyuuga would almost be required to wear out of shear pride, stuck to her arms and felt agonizingly hot at the moment. She wanted to just tear it off and feel the cool breeze on her skin, but she also felt the need to make herself suffer. She hated the people of Konoha for what they did – what they were doing! –, but most of all she hated herself. She had planned it all out for him. Everything she did was for him, yet she still messed it all up. She spent a whole night carefully ripping the symbols and signs off to make it plain, to make it somewhat more welcoming to him. She was sure he craved attention, so that's what she gave him, but she didn't see this coming. She came on too strong, and by the time she realized it he was already out the door running.

She was so angry, so furious, livid, outraged, incensed. Words failed to describe what she felt! She still hadn't looked up, her hands tightly squeezed around the hem of her jacket. She hated this jacket too. She hated it even though it had done nothing but remind her of her failure. The way she acted, the way she looked at him, the focus she gave him, did she do all of it wrong? She hurt him, and she hated herself for it. Why did she think that he wouldn't flee at the first available opportunity? Why was she so stupid? Why did she think that he would trust her? Why should he trust her? He would be stupid not to flee from her, and he was anything but stupid. If anything he was probably actually a prodigy, considering that he somehow taught himself to speak properly, if uncertain when speaking. No, her Naruto wasn't stupid.

She wouldn't cry. Hinata didn't cry. No, Hinata was a fighter, not a crier. She didn't give up just because something went wrong, and for her the stakes were higher than any training she had ever undertaken. The stakes were Naruto. She would fix this mess that she created. She would get his flame back. She quickly wiped away the lone tear that had struggled its way down her face before she looked in the direction of the dirty blond boy's path. Her gaze sunk past the people around her and dissolved through Konoha's buildings. It penetrated the deepest parts of everyone and everything, searching through them, past the unimportance that was the people of the village. This gaze was not for them. This gaze was for no one but him, no one but Naruto. The Fourth Hokage Street was the busiest and fastest growing street in Konoha, due most-likely to his status as savior. Given the massive amount of people already gathered, she would be slow at actually getting to him when she found him. It would be hard, she knew, but it would be worth it. If Naruto could carry on, then why couldn't she get past this relatively small road-block? She would find him and then apologize. If that didn't work, then she would keep doing it. She would apologize as much as it took, she would not come on as strong, she would dial it back, and she would become his friend. And, maybe, if all else fails she could just kidnap him.

_Kidnap Naru-kun…I wouldn't mind getting to know him better…No, probably not the best idea._ She absent-mindedly let go of her enhanced sight, and slowly made her way in the direction of the fleeing boy.

_I don't see what's so great about this Fourth Hokage character,_ she thought as she made passing glances at the flock of hateful sheep on the street, _If he really had been that great, then he would still be alive. Naru-kun has gone through more shit than the Hokage probably ever had. Where does bravery get you, anyway? Not being scared of something much greater than you is idiotic. Sure, giving up his life to save this village was pretty courageous, but he doesn't have to live with the aftermath. Maybe if he was a little bit faster Naruto wouldn't be parentless. Maybe if he had been so great he would have killed it and lived through it. Maybe if that leper of a Hokage we have now had done more it wouldn't have happened at all. I don't even care about the Fourth, but the Third can go die for all I care. He should be condemned to the hell he deserves for what he's done to Naru-kun!_ Hinata was angrier than before, if that were possible, and with the Third on her mind she was sure it was. She stopped, activating her bloodline before submerging once more into the people and surroundings that made up Konoha. She wasn't her father, although she liked to believe she performed a good Hiashi when the need arose, but she was sure she could find Naruto before he got too far away from her. Hopefully by going slow she was allowing him time to calm down, a hope that he would feel bad and apologize still existed deep within her. She didn't feel entitled to it, but given the opportunity to talk to him again, she would fake anything, even pride. She hated pride. Not because she didn't see it as necessary, pride is a necessary attribute to have when working with anything. No, she hated it because it was so easy to whore yourself out to it. Pride was a tough beast to control, and most people that held pride couldn't keep the right amount. Being humble is important, but knowing just how good you are is important too.

The Third had pride, pride in this village, his village. His hateful, scornful village was his pride and joy. He was either going senile or he was evil. Hinata could never say she had done enough to help Naruto, but she hadn't not done anything! She went to the Hokage's tower at least three times a week since she became a stalker – a term Hinata had little qualms with using. She knew the first time she had observed him that she would continue, and honestly she didn't care what anyone would call her. She wouldn't beat around the bush with it, she loved just watching him. She wasn't sure why exactly, but it calmed her down, and in the beginning that was important. Now, however, she didn't need his calm, he needed hers –, yet that old codger did absolutely nothing! Requests after requests after requests for a council with the Hokage were denied, presumably because she was only a child. All that old fool did was the minimum amount of work to make sure that Naruto had a place to live, but it wasn't safe or even very livable.

Again, she found little of importance surrounding her as her field of vision increased. She was becoming worried, not that she would ever say. What if she couldn't find him in time and he disappeared? She knew full well how easily he could escape even her line of sight when he really felt the need to. Hopefully he didn't think she would follow him, a foolish thing for him to think, but Hinata could hope.

_Where are you Naru-kun?_ Hinata was moving the second she registered his scream. Her eyes flared up faster than was comfortable, the normally meager amount of chakra required multiplied ten-fold before she could reel it back causing her eyesight to blur and whiten briefly. She fought through the pain and quickly spun around. Most of the villagers in the immediate area recognized his scream instantly too and went back to their business a great deal happier. Hinata felt like killing them, although that feeling wasn't exactly new. She sped down a side street leading off the main, overcrowded Fourth Hokage Street into the Third Hokage Street. It was nearly as lifeless as the man that sat high in that office at that very moment, but Hinata didn't concern herself with worthless people, Naruto was in trouble.

She saw them well before they saw her. Two genin stood at the entrance to a relatively hidden alley, probably using their newly gained status to pick on unsuspecting victims, but the third one, hidden away at the back of the alley with Naruto, was the only one who seemed certain about this idea. Hinata was about to show them all why they should never have even thought about it. She came dashing at the two acting as look outs. The girl, who seemed extremely nervous and quite jumpy even before the sudden attack, made a motion to stop Hinata when she finally noticed.

The outstretched arm that hoped to intercept the flying girl was quickly grabbed by the wrist. Hinata dug her heels into the dirt, barely stopping herself from shooting through the panicking girl. She twisted the offending wrist and rotated around her core, bringing a surprised genin with, and sent the girl down. She wasted no time letting the girl struggle for air before dashing toward the barely understanding second teammate. His guard was sloppy; an obvious biproduct of the sudden assault, and Hinata easily sent her right fist to collide slightly upwards into the frightened boy. He gasped in pain as the impact to his collar-bone snapped it like a twig, but before he could crumble Hinata had already grabbed his left arm and twisted it in a circular path behind him. In an effort to avoid the most amount of damage, his body simply followed the force of the jerk and flipped him onto his backside. Two down, and they didn't look like they would interfere, whether or not they could even try. The third, another girl – ironically, she seemed to have more balls than the young man she associated with –, had been more observant than the other two and had thrown two shuriken down the alley as Hinata had, nearly literally, disarmed the male genin. The two shuriken were easily avoided, a simple distraction, and had the young genin known that Hinata was a Hyuuga, she wouldn't have followed it up with a charge at her. The kunai that lunged for Hinata's shoulder, still too much of a rookie to even attempt a killing blow, was dodged, and Hinata's Gentle Fist was too fast for the girl.

Hinata left her on the ground with both her arms useless; her two accomplices had already fled. After her initial complete and utter annihilation of the girl, Hinata felt the need to deck her in the face, but she was needed elsewhere. She saw him cowering to the side of the alley wrapping as much of himself in his arms as possible. He was shaking frantically.

"Naru-kun? It's okay now, I took care of those little shits. I swear neither I nor they are going to hurt you." She approached him slowly, not wanting to spook him. She wanted him to know that she wasn't a threat and that she was there to help. "That girl is unconscious. I made sure to punch her hard for you. Do you need help up? Are you hurt at all?"

"H-H-H-Hin-na-nata?" His head lifted slightly, just enough to see between his arms, and his weight shifted slightly away from the wall. "A-a-are th-they g-g-gone?" She gave him a soft smile and nodded. She was kneeling down on the ground in front of him now. Her hand came to rest gently on top of his dirty mop of hair, and she noticed with great joy that he didn't flinch or shy away from her touch like she expected. His arms were suddenly around her neck, his face pressing into her and dampening her shoulder. "I-I-I-I'm-m s-s-sor-ry f-for wh-what I-I-I s-said be-before-"

"Shut up, Naru-kun," Hinata chided lightly, "all is forgiven, even though you really have no reason to apologize. You're alright, right?" She directed her eyes at the blond that was currently pressed up against her, but she couldn't read his posture or his face due to their proximity – not that she minded him hugging her, as it was quickly turning into one of her favorite past-times. She would have liked her first and second hugs with him to be under better circumstances, but she resigned herself to pounce on him for a good one at the soonest opportunity –, but she was at least certain he had no serious damage. She had looked him over several times now with her eyes active and didn't see anything that looked broken or damaged aside from bruising. She was no medic and based her diagnoses off an assumption that she would know what a broken bone or torn ligament or tendon looked like. Aside from that small snag, she could, with a small amount of certainty, claim him to be in relatively moderate health. "Naru-kun?"

"Y-yeah. I-I think I-I'm o-okay. I-I've ha-had w-w-worse," Hinata tensed up at this, causing Naruto to tense up, causing the whole situation to tense up. It took several moments for the suffocating tension to subside, something Hinata was eternally grateful for. "C-could we…um…," he hesitated, the soft voice barely reaching her ear despite how close he was to her. She decided to move forward, to give a little push. She considered that maybe it would backfire and completely burn down everything that she had managed to recover from her previous train-wreck that she had the misfortune of creating not thirty minutes ago. She was Hyuuga Hinata. She didn't chicken out from what she knew she had to do, so why was she having such trouble doing this? She knew the answer to that. Naruto was too important to her now to ever give up, but failure scared her. She didn't care about her father or for Neji or for the air of failure they try daily to bestow upon her, but she cared deeply about Naruto and what he thought of her. She could do this. She broke his embrace and grabbed his shoulders. Their eyes met once more that day, and Hinata took what she felt was one of her bravest steps.

"Come on, let's get you home, Naru-kun. That is, if you'll let me…" His face, disgraced by the large bruise already forming on his left side, fell slightly forward, as if accused of something a little boy shouldn't be doing. Hinata just wanted to lift that chin of his and tell him that everything was okay, but it would have to be one step at a time for now.

"Y-you aren't ma-mad at-at me? F-for wha-what I-I said?" That inferiority complex would have to stop at some point. It didn't matter if it made perfect sense as to why he had it, after all, not many people are this abused. She wanted to punish him for thinking that he should apologize, even though he was not hers to punish. She, of course, was currently making plans to kidnap him later, if need be, to completely claim him as hers, therefore eliminating this whole debacle. He must have noticed the thoughts that flew through her head the moment he spoke those words. She detected a hint of immediate regret at saying anything at all; she tried to soften her features for him.

"Naru-kun, you have no reason to even _be_ sorry! I'm not mad at you, because you had every right to react the way you did. I want to be your friend, but I tried to become it in all the wrong ways. But I would still like to get to know you better." Naruto wiped away the tears clinging to his eyes for dear life, leaving his face seemingly refreshed, although she liked to believe it was her inspiring words of friendship that did the trick. It also looked like her clever plan to gain his trust was working. The plan consisted of screwing everything up, but it seemed to be working. The world seemed to work in mysterious ways, or maybe that was just Hinata. "Now, we should get you home so you can rest and get cleaned up. I won't fault you right now for stinking up the village, but if you don't at least shower by tomorrow I'll be forced to take drastic measures, and believe you me, neither of us want to know what I'm willing to do." Hinata's heart soared when he defied all odds and giggled a little, even though it sounded a bit more terrified than she would have liked.

"I-I su-suppo-ose w-we c-can g-" Naruto didn't get to finish his sentence as Hinata swooped him onto her back and was already climbing up the wall with only her bare – sandaled – feet. She wondered what Naruto would think about this later on, maybe she could teach it to him before this year was over? The queasy sounds that Naruto was making as they both bounced from rooftop to rooftop shot that idea down rather quickly. He had enormous potential, she could feel it rolling off him in waves – although, she couldn't exactly say how she felt it, but she could feel it, dammit! –, but his education and training were so screwed up she was sure that she needed to focus completely on making him passable. Once they were on a team together she was certain with a sensei at least forced to help and their immense amount of time available together that she could turn him into the one of the best ninja out there.

_Wait…,_ she stopped in her tracks, nearly flipping Naruto over her and setting off the puke-beam, _how am I going to get us onto a team together? Judging from past years, the only set formula for balancing out a team is the best-worst-medium triad. But even then, team arrangements are quite easily swayed by clans. Can I fudge the paperwork? Can I convince what's-his-face to assign us or even recommend us?_

"H-Hinata? A-are y-you okay?"

"I feel like I didn't quite hear you correctly, Naru-kun? You mind _repeating_ that?" She added as much obviously fake menace as she could into her voice, but she wasn't sure how much of it Naruto would catch or misjudge as real menace.

"N-no! I-I me-mean H-Hina-ch-chan!"

"See, that's what I thought you said! Dang old ears of mine just aren't what they used to be. Too many firecrackers in too many toilets these past few weeks I'd say! Now Naru-kun, why on earth have you decided to stop us on this particular roof?"

"W-well, I-I d-d-didn't re-really do a-an-"

"Planning on taking me out for an evening meal, are you? Why else would you have stopped us on this particular culinary establishment?" Hinata knew that it wasn't a restaurant or even a place with slightly edible wares. In fact, it was an apartment building, but Naruto didn't need to know that she knew that. She also wasn't exactly sure if Naruto knew that it wasn't either, but he also didn't need to know that she didn't know that. "Now Naruto, we can't stop for a romantic night out right now, we'll have to save that for later."

"P-p-please c-can yo-you le-let me d-down?" He blushingly, bashfully stuttered. Due to his teetering position thrown over her, caused by his rather weak struggling, she couldn't really tell if he was really blushing or about to contain a body's-worth of blood in his head. Her position on the whole matter was that Naruto should have taken more care not to be upside-down when a stronger women – because of course Hyuuga Hinata is a strong, independent women of twelve years – swept him off his feet. Really, it should be considered an honor to be in such a position. After all, few people would ever be able to get this close to the willing Hyuuga heiress, let alone in such a position.

_Maybe I should become a dominatrix…no, silly thoughts._ She took care to not catch the lip of the next building she bounded to, and she especially took care to not face-plant with fervor – because she did everything with gross negligence and enthusiasm – into said building when she failed to not catch the edge with her foot. She cursed loudly, hopping up and down on one foot with Naruto on the opposite shoulder precariously. As she began to calm down, she shouted a string of curses, words that just sound bad despite their meanings, and several words that didn't exist seconds ago. "Why does stubbing my toe hurt more than any other physical pain I know?" Naruto was whimpering on her back, possibly in terror or agony, it was hard to tell sometimes.

"I-I-I ju-ju want to-to home!"

"I'll get us there so quick it'll be like we never left!"

"B-but yo-you've never be-been-" Hinata was off like a rocket. Naruto's stomach never made it.

* * *

"You are one lucky boy, you know that! If any of that had hit me, you'd be unable to find your ass!" Hinata explained patiently to the ignored and desperate Naruto. She was certain the only reason he hadn't invited her in or even made an attempt to enter was the absolutely horrid apartment that she could see in full at the moment. Did Naruto not yet realize what her eyes were capable of?

"Are yo-you…alright? Your eyes…" Naruto almost whispered. So he noticed the obvious bulging veins – she was determined to make that go away at some point – that are the trademark of an active Byakugan, but he hadn't realized what that meant. That, or he was messing with her. Hinata's eyes narrowed as she gazed upon the boy in front of her. The stairs up to his apartment turned into a grimy and dank hallway painted the ugliest shade of yellow. She wasn't sure if it was originally white and had just aged horribly, or if it really was painted piss yellow. Naruto was currently guarding his apartment door yet simultaneously waiting for a chance to sneak in.

"Naru-kun, why won't you invite me in? Have I not been a good friend? Or is it a mess? Don't worry; I'm a slob at heart so I can take anything you can show me." Naruto seemed to hesitate at her words, and Hinata's eyes widened. He was scared, and he looked like a wild animal trapped in a corner, without a shred of fight left in him. She could see it in his eyes. "So, all of those words," she whispered to herself, eyes slightly downcast. Naruto seemed to catch every single one of them as they fell.

She should have figured, really. People don't change in the span of a day, at least not sane people. She could testify to that herself. She was that timid, shy girl that could barely keep the sadness at bay. She forgot how long it took her to become the girl she was today, and she definitely didn't want to think of the agonizingly long time it took for her to crawl out of her depressed little shell. So why was she even trying? She couldn't make him trust her if he didn't want to, especially if he didn't even want to try. Trust took time, and she didn't have much. In a year they would be separated into teams of three and sent into the ninja world to kill or be killed, but she couldn't guarantee any of it.

"_My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to be the next Hokage!"_

"_I'm going to make this village notice me!"_

"_I'll make everyone notice me! Doesn't matter if they want to!"_

"_I promise you that!"_

_Am I…giving up?_

"_I never break promises!"_

_I made a promise. To Naruto, to myself!_ She looked back up from the floor and met his gaze. Her light in the overwhelming darkness – Hinata nearly got a sugar-high from that thought – was smote before she could meet him again, a changed person.

A promise should never be broken. Naruto would be the next Hokage, "on his life."

"M-my…my wh-what?"

**End**

Korisen


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